稀缺性假设是怎样炼成的:一个思想史的考察

The Making of Scarcity Postulation : A Study of the Ideological History

稀缺性假设是西方主流经济学的基本假设之一。从词源学的角度看,稀缺有一个向一般意义层面或普世内涵转变的过程,稀缺性假设并非一种"自然"公理,而是"人为"假设,这是对稀缺性假设追根溯源式考究的动力。早在古希腊时期,色诺芬、柏拉图和亚里士多德就阐述过人类社会的稀缺状态,但其内涵完全异于稀缺性假设,直至17、18世纪,霍布斯、洛克使用稀缺引出私有产权和雇佣劳动的合法性,休谟不仅在对稀缺定义的形式上与稀缺性假设极其相近,且同斯密一起论证了永无止境的需要及对其追逐的合法性,从而完成了直至现今资本主义的若干核心理念的合法性论证,稀缺性假设才得以基本形成。因此,稀缺性假设在资本主义意识形态合法性的获得上起到了基础性作用。

Scarcity postulation is one of the basic assumptions of Western mainstream economics.From the etymological point of view,scarcity has a transition to the general meaning level or the universal connotation.In this regard,the scarcity postulation is a'man-made'postulation rather than a'natural'axiom,which is a driver to investigate the origin of the scarcity postulation.In the ancient times of Greece,Xenophon,Plato and Aristotle described the scarcity of human society,butits connotation was quite different from the prerequisite ofscarcity postulation.Not until 17th and 18th century did Hobbes and Locke employ scarcity to elicit the legitimacy of private property rights and wage labor.Later Hume and Smith demonstrated the never-ending need and the legitimacyoftheir pursuit,thus completing the demonstration oflegitimacy of core concepts of capitalism and the formation of scarcity of assumptions.The scarcity postulation plays a fundamental role in the acquisition of the legitimacy of capitalist ideology.